10 August 2010

Baking is Poetry 401

What is Baking mean to You? Here is a poem I just jotted down in an effort to get back to food blogging again.  I want to hear from my readers --- is baking a smell, a sight or sound? A memory?

Baking

It is patience
It is understanding 
the
ebb
and
flow 
 Of ingredients
Of Environmental factors 

It is flirting
with formulations
to achieve
the ultimate
in taste combination -
Whether 
that result achieved
is
simplistic
or 
quite complicated.

Baking is 
the warmth of a stack oven
Of the freshly
de-panned product.

Baking is
 the satisfaction
Of creation.
 Of the tears 
which 
well in their eyes
when a taste, a smell
invokes 
memories
of home,
Of a loved one
that 
has
passed on.

Baking is
the alcoholic fumes
permeating
from a container
that
housed 
your starter -
your poolish -
your biga -
or 
your mix.

Baking is intoxication.
 Amber ©2010. All Rights Reserved

I also experimented with a new add-on  for GIMP called "Polar Inversion" - so I used it on the pic below. I think it encapsulates production quite well, you know, the total process seems full circle.


31 May 2008

Saterday Soul Search : Food Poetry 21

In my hopes to re-ignite my poetry writing, I try to find food pictures that will inspire me - then in a creative burst, I try to write out the thoughts that come to mind and type them out immediately. Here are some of my plated desserts shots and the words that became of them...


Sugar Garnish detail


Sugar fired ---
extreme degrees render your cube like structure molten.

How you boil into a yellow frenzy ---
Scorching, throwing your strand like tentacles
grasping and attaching

your hot intensity
slips quietly into a more permanent existence ---
Hardening , your exterior smooth,
yet fragile in
your mock
glass sheen.




Garnish detail



Hazelnut Spears HardeningmoreClose up





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21 May 2008

Food Photography : Banana - Midori Strawberry torte 12

plated desserts 010


An oval cookie cutter was used to cut out 3 layers of French sponge. I used a slightly larger size of the oval set and lined it with an acetate strip. I used sliced strawberry to line the acetate , point upward and then added banana mousse. I pushed a layer of the French sponge into the mousse, which distributed the mousse into the areas that weren’t filled by the strawberry. I continued to add mousse then a layer of sponge, and then used a small offset to comb the top smooth. I let this set in the reach in for several hours, then peeled the acetate off.

The dessert was placed on the upper left side, off center. It was garnished with a chocolate design and a half kiwi slice following the line of the chocolate design.

A tempered chocolate fern design was piped onto the plate. It was filled with honeydew-Midori sauce. Descending circles were piped of chocolate on each side of the dessert and strawberry sauce was used to fill the circles.


I will post the full dessert costing presentation tomorrow.


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20 May 2008

My Photographic Mind 4

Here are some of my pictures. Bits and pieces of what I see. These are shots I have taken, using nothing more than a little digital point and shoot. I like to recall in certain instances, pictures from my photographic mind.

"OH THE SMELL OF DOUGH!"


something uncertain



coming home




Oil on wet concrete



summer rain












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21 April 2008

Food Photography - Ballad of A Foodie 2

I took these shots in the flickr collection noted below (at bottom of this post) in "Ballad of a Foodie"- over a span of 2 years. There is allot of emotional attachment to them. It is about food. It isn't about people who were captured - their poses frozen in time. No, it is about the way I captured these images. I was a newly amateur photographer who was obsessed at getting enough pictures to fill my memory card at the end of the night. I have heard people say "you can't take decent pictures with a digital point and shoot, or anything under 8mp", that opinion is ridiculous.

Ballad of a Foodie flickr collection - see below for links

When I first started taking pictures, I had this little point and shoot digital camera, it had only 3 mp. I got to know the limits of my camera by experimenting heavily in different lighting, conditions etc. I found what worked and I pushed those limits of my little camera, with sometimes amazing results. Then I moved on to a camera with more control, larger lens capacity and full manual functions, a digital with 5 mp. Not all my shots are great, but allot of the subject matter makes them unique. 

I like the irregularities in photographs --- liken it to the cracks and pops you hear when you play a vinyl record. Taking pictures of food is an even harder media to work with. If you are looking for ways to better your food photographs, I suggest you start with the basics --- take lots of pictures of non-food related objects. 

Experiment - go outside, take pictures in the sunshine, pictures of objects with the sun behind them. Take photographs in the rain (not literally - stand under an overpass or porch. Get used to shadows and capturing the right color spectrum. If you have a digital, try using the "live view" LCD , this will help you visually see the way the lens reacts to different angle and light changes. Get accustomed to what situation calls for flash - flash can either make or break a picture. 

Try taking the same picture from different angles and lengths using the flash at different points, then compare what works best. When you have truly gotten to know your camera, then try taking pictures of food. You will now have a reference point to go back to and say - "right, my camera can capture this better from that angle". Then slowly you can introduce props . I have found it is better to take a "on the fly" approach when capturing food production, no props, no special lighting. But then again I like action shots. In the future I will be taking on food photography again -- and this time it will be more "posed" shots.

Amber *'s buddy icon ballad of a foodie

This is my foodie collection on flickr. Mouse over to see Set title. Click on any of the links to View that Set on flickr.

More Plated DessertsPlated DessertsSweet LifeArtisan BreadsBaker behavior
IngredientsEquipmenttartsCake/French PastryEarly Morning
Life of a bell pepperWhat's in your pint glass?Glutenenous motionCake Dec. (beginer)Special Order Cakes



11 April 2008

Food Photo : Chocolate Mousse with Strawberry Sauce 3

01 June 2007

JUNE: What a Foodie Month it is....... 1

Photo : Egg Washing oat loaves on a proofing board.



June is :

Candy Month (National), Dairy Month (National), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month (National), Iced Tea Month (National), Turkey Lovers Month, and Papaya Month (National) . First week of the month is National Fishing Week.


June 1: National Doughnut Day (always the first Friday in June)

June 2: National Rocky Road Ice Cream Day

June 4: Applesauce Cake Day

June 5: National Gingerbread Day

June 6: Hunger Awareness Day (US National)

June 7: First day ice cream was sold in the US, June 7, 1786; National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

June 10: Iced Tea Day

June 13: Kitchen Klutzes Of America Day

June 16: Fudge Day; Fresh Veggies Day

June 17: Father's Day; Eat Your Vegetables Day

June 18: Go Fishing Day

June 20: Ice Cream Soda Day

June 21: Summer Solstice - First Day of Summer

June 22: National Chocolate Éclair Day

June 25: National Catfish Day

June 26: National Chocolate Pudding Day

June 29: Waffle Iron Day



12 May 2007

Photography : Blackberry Granita w/ Banana Mouse 3


*Plated desserts. All made from scratch. This blackberry granita in pilsner glass is garnished with banana mouse, raspberry sauce drizzle, two lemon peel spears and fresh blackberries. On the plate are two piped chocolate tears filled with mango sauce and accented with raspberry cloverleafs.
I have been away from blogging and the cyber world for a year....my Google PR reflects that. Ha. Well I am here to tell you I will be sloughing off these feeble embers and stoking this blog into a great foodie fire! VIVA LA CULINAIRE! More to come?!...




07 August 2006

Vintage Photog : Baker and Staff 4

I found this while browsing flickr. I love this photograph, and I intend on asking john if he would have it copied for me, I would pay him of course, and then have the picture sent to me.

Baker and Staff, originally uploaded by mrwaterslide.
This is what he had put under the photo :
One day at the hotel I had all my work finished and I asked the chef if I could
leave early. It must have been about three o'clock. I got in my car and drove
madly down the interstate, and then turned off on a state road, heading towards
Lake of the Ozarks. Every time I came to an antique store or flea market I
pulled over, ran inside, and scanned the stock hurriedly. I found this photo at
my last stop of the day (it was almost five o'clock, when most everything
closes). It's marked $4.00 on the back, so I suppose that's what I paid for it
.
I would say that is a pretty cool find.

05 August 2006

Photography : stage of the knot rolls' makeup 2

stage of the knot rolls makeup, originally uploaded by Amber *.


11 July 2006

Photog : Windows -The soul of Dough 0

There is no gluten structure in this dough --- lots of holes and the dough breaks away when pulled because it needs further mixing to develop the gluten.


The Window: A meshing of gluten strands!
Tight like a drum --- the gluten strands have become meshed and the dough is done mixing. If you tap this "window" --- it will hold up and bounce back without tearing.


A Window - meshing of gluten strands!

22 January 2006

Photog: Finished paris brest 5

A Paris-Brest is a French dessert, made of choux pastry and a praline flavoured cream.

Finished paris brest, originally uploaded by Amber *.
The pastry was created in 1891 to commemorate the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycle race. Its circular shape is representative of a wheel. It became popular with riders on the Paris-Brest cycle race, partly because of its energy-giving high calorific value, and is now found in pâtisseries all over France.

08 December 2005

Cream Puffs 2

Pate a choux (éclair paste) used for puffs, with wonderful pastry creme custard...ripe sweet strawberrries, then whipped cream as a go between.

Cream Puffs, originally uploaded by Amber *.
The tops are dipped in chocolate ganache.

A sweet, yet sensual , but light dance on your palate.

------------------------------------------

It has been awhile, I know. I am organizing my non-cyber life at the moment.

You might be wondering what have I been up to?? Well as my first quarter of Professional Bakery/Pastry Management I had to manage 2 stations (each for 5 weeks). My first station was Cakes & French Pastries. As described in a previous post.

The 2nd station I managed was CTO, I was acting pastry chef for the banquet hall in the Culinary Student's kitchen. I had a culinary student partner, and we were in charge of baking, finishing and plating the deserts for customers. We also had to make rolls/bread for 100+ servings.

We had total control on which deserts we could create. There wasn't however a wrack to set our pre plated deserts -- which limited the amount of production we could plan.

The typical count for people dining during the 11:15 a.m to 1 p.m lunch, was 110 people. Now not everyone would order desert, but if a 15 person table ordered desert at once, you really needed to be on the ball.

Some of the desert items we made included fresh fruit napoleons, which I will be detailing in my next post.

As for school I have taken my finals and now I am on winter holiday. I will be taking Winter quarter off.

13 September 2005

shaping danish - Pinwheels 1


shaping danish - Pinwheels, originally uploaded by Amber*.

These are filled with Almond paste. Once proofed, they are egg washed, then the center is pushed down & fill with cherry filling.

01 June 2005

Photog: Hand to Dough 0


opiate 038, originally uploaded by CulinaryNovice.

I love this photograph. Not because it has the greatest technical aspects, but becuase it shows baking in it's purest form - a hand on dough, flour everywhere, hands crusty from working the dough.

23 May 2005

Photography : macro shot of whipped cream. 0


macro shot of whipped cream.
Originally uploaded by abstract2concrete.

I love the texture.

22 May 2005

Photography : 16 lb Scales 1


16 lb Scales
Originally uploaded by abstract2concrete.

Scale, Scale, Scale --> That is what encompasses most of your time in a scratch bakery. Scaling out every ingredient, so as to have the right percentage in your formula. If your scaling is off -- then your product will lack in quality and quantity.

13 May 2005

Photography : so-so vs. more like it - danish pastry 0


so-so vs. more like it - danish pastry
Originally uploaded by abstract2concrete.

12 May 2005

Pumpernickel Bread 3


Pumpernickel Bread, originally uploaded by Culinarynovice.

Bread from the oven cooling.

10 May 2005

Photography : bench scraper incision 0


bench scraper incision
Originally uploaded by abstract2concrete.

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